April II Sim Done!

League Date: May 1, 2028

Standings:

• Zotti: Seattle leads Brick by 1 game
• Adams: London leads Brooklyn by 3 games
• Signorino: Antelope Valley leads Norfolk by 7 games

News:

• London RF Ron Wood won the Player of the Week award.
• Seattle 1B Luis Lozano won the Player of the Week award.
• Appalachian LF Martin Perez won the Player of the Week award.
• Ron Wood also won the Batter of the Month award.
• Brick CL Carlos Placeres won the Pitcher of the Month award.
• Shackamaxon CF Benjamin Anderson won the Rookie of the Month award.

Transactions:

• I processed the three trades. Don't worry if the draft picks don't look right -- Zev and I use the Traded Draft Picks page exclusively when running the draft and checking trades
• No major league contracts were signed.

Next sim: Next Thursday night (June 2nd)

Brick and Highland complete another trade....GM's Fred Goldfarb and John Carrano  completed  a trade ....Brick sending the fifth round pick recently received from Norfolk in the Brian Harrington deal  to Highland and getting back  Al Dougan who steps into the Brick bullpen replacing the recently injured reliever ...When asked later by the reporter from the Asbury Park Press how he feels about it GM Fred Goldfarb expressed joy and satisfaction in getting this done..he further explained that the bullpen was better now and the team can now make a push forward in getting back to the  World Series

Seattle-Highland Trade

The Seattle Monarchs traded two pitching prospects on the cusp of the majors, MR Julio Lopez and SP Lyndon Nix, and with a fourth-round pick in next year's draft to the Highland Admirals in exchange for Highland's picks in the first and second rounds next year.

Nix was Seattle's #1 starting pitcher in AAA Tacoma, and slated for the next open spot in the big leagues. Lopez was serving as a set-up man in Tacoma and is one of the top left-handed relief prospects in all of the minors.

"We thought very highly of Lyndon and Julio," said Seattle Owner/GM Mack Shultz, "but it's hard to stand in their way when they've got a chance to shine in another organization. We wish both of them the best of luck in their careers, or at least in their games against other teams."

Norfolk and Brick make trade

Yesterday Norfolk and Brick came together to make a minor trade. Brick in need of some pitching since the season has not been so kind to there pitchers acquired AAA Brian Harrington  and Norfolk's 5th rd pick for Brick's 4th rd pick.  Norfolk GM Thomas Carrano said that with our rotation set and capable youngsters in minors that Harrington could be moved with us not missing a beat. Harrington will report to Brick's AAA team asap.

April I Sim Done!

Game Date:  Apr 16, 2028

Standings:
Adams:  Brooklyn & London tied for the lead, one game ahead of London.
Zotti:  Seattle is three games ahead of Brick
Signorino: Antelope Valley is one game ahead of Houston.

Significant Injuries:
Seattle CF Manuel Jaimes is going to miss six weeks with a torn hamstring.
Brick will be without reliever Yasushi Mochizuki for 4-5 months with a torn back muscle.
Rookie SS Art Whitaker of Norfolk has shoulder tendinitis and will miss about five weeks.
Shackamaxon 2B Jesus Alvarez has a herniated disc.  He's going to be out for five weeks.

Milestones:
Shackamaxon's John Grondin passed two milestones this sim.  First, he reached 500 HR (4/6), making him the sixth player to do so.  Then, four days later, he recorded his 1500th RBI, joining seven others in the 1500 RBI club.

Awards & Accomplishments:
Antelope Valley 2B Rick Bryant named Player of the Week (4/10), the fifth award of his career.

Next Sim:  Thursday night

Lenape add Aldrade

The Shackamaxon Lenape and Highland Admirals have a trade to announce.

Lenape GM Michael Weintraub explains: "We wanted to bolster our 1B prospects and had focused on Jorge Andrade in our pre-draft scouting. He went higher than we anticipated, but are pleased that John was willing to trade from his glut of 1B prospects."

In exchange for Andrade and the Admirals' 4th round pick in 2029, the Lenape gave up their 3rd round pick next year.

"We're essentially agreeing to move down a few spots in the draft to get an intriguing prospect," Weintraub said. "We'll take that chance."

Opening Day will be ...

... on Sunday.

Please reply to this thread to "check in" and confirm that you have uploaded your team's export, and that all of your rosters are in order.

Thanks, and good luck this season!

Opening Day at last!

League Date: April 1, 2028

Yes, finally, we have reached Opening Day. Our 27th season is here, and hope and promise reigns across the league.

Administrative note: The 35-man roster limits have been turned on. At a glance, the following teams have to make some roster adjustments before the first games are simmed:

• Antelope Valley - Rookie team (37 players)
• Atlanta - Rookie team (36)
• Highland - Major league (40), AAA (36), AA (43), and A (66)
• Houston - Major league (28)
• Maui - Major league (39)
• Norfolk - Major league (40)

Now, for our check into who has players on the rookie league teams that shouldn't be there:

• Appalachian - 2 players
• Atlanta - 20 players
• Highland - 2 players
• Houston - 19 players
• London - 1 player

There were no major league contracts signed in the sim. 

Also, the new financial rules were not put into place. They will be done so when Zev does his next sim.

We haven't yet decided when the first games will be simmed, so expect an announcement in the next day or so. But, if your team is named above, please be pro-active and make the roster moves necessary as soon as possible.

Rookie League Rosters

I wanted to post a reminder about the rules about the new rookie league we have this season. It was designed, along with the new 35-man minor league roster limits, to have a place to evaluate recently drafted players. As we discussed, and then voted, the league is specifically for these players:

1. Players drafted in the most recent amateur draft.
2. Players who signed minor league contracts after not being drafted
3. International complex players who were "aged up" after turning 20

In other words, players with 0 years as a professional. (You can check this on the Contract page for your players.) As we approach the season, Zev and I have been talking about how to enforce this. There is no way in game to enforce it, like the 35-man roster rule change. While we have discussed having an age limit of 22 on this league, that's not what we decided on.

As part of our internal discussions on how to enforce this, I went to look and see how many teams were presently in violation of the roster limits on their rookie league teams, and for the most part, teams are in good shape. I did some mangling of data exported from Wednesday night's sim and found this:

• Kihei Keikis (MAU) - 1 player
• Mojave Mustangs (ANT) - 12 players
• Ely Loons (APP) - 3 players
• Lexington Kings (BRI) - 3 players
• Delaware Valley Vagabonds (SHK) - 1 player **
• Fosson Fighting Pike (LON) - 23 players *
• Fremont Soviets (HOU) - 75 players
• New Orleans Thunderbears (HIG) - 2 players

* We haven't determined yet how we're going to enforce the rule with the computer-run London franchise. We're open to suggestions.

** Yes, even I was in violation when I ran the data, but the one player was a minor league free agent I signed during the sim. He has since been promoted to AAA.

As minor league players acquired via trade, waivers, or free agency are automatically dumped in the lowest minor league level, which now is the rookie league, we need to have some flexibility on how the roster rules will be enforced.

Nothing's official, but Zev and I are leaning towards a softer hand with this. While the game will enforce the 35-man roster limits for us, owners will be left to their own devices to make the decisions to place their minor league rosters. I know I spent an agonizing hour or two last night making cuts and releases within my franchise, and I've had a pretty good idea all along (thanks to my top-secret in-depth spreadsheet that contains all of my franchise's secrets) what I was going to do to trim my rosters.

So, any questions? In short, we're going to turn on the 35-man roster limits in the next sim, and start gently encouraging owners to adhere to the agreed-upon roster rules for the rookie league.

Spring Training Sim #4 complete

Game Date: Monday March 27, 2028.

Spring training games are complete! Next up, the regular season. We will sim to opening day next (Saturday night), so start trimming your rosters. Zev and I are discussing the issue with the rookie leagues and I will make a post tomorrow explaining our plan.

Now, as for the rest of the spring news:

Brick had the best record this spring, 19-9, and Maui had the mirror opposite 9-19 record. Everyone else finished with 10 to 17 wins.

No major league signings this sim, and only Shackamaxon signed SP Hun-Ho Pang (who was traded not long ago) to a minor league contract.

Next sim: Saturday night

Just a reminder, after Saturday night's sim, we will turn on the 35-man limits for the minor league teams.

Spring Training Sim #3 complete

League Date: March 20, 2028

Injuries: None, fortunately

Major League contracts signed: None

Minor League contracts signed:

• Antelope Valley - SS Arthur Johnston and SS Bernardo Morales
• Maui - CF Woody Murphy
• Shackamaxon - LF Stephen Carr
• Houston - 2B Carlos Marino (international, Mexico)

Next sim: Wednesday night. This will be the final sim of Spring Training.

Opening Day is coming up. Don't forget about the new roster restrictions for your minor league teams.

Sim's Done

Game Date:  Mar 13 2028

Next sim:  Saturday night.

Sim's Done

Game Date:  Mar 6, 2028

Please be mindful (as Michael pointed out in the last post) of the new minor league roster limits as the season approaches.

Next sim:  Wednesday night

Roster issues....

My apologies, everyone, but I've got to hold the sim for a day or so until an owner sorts out a roster issue.

Thanks,

Zev